Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium.
Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses in which a cartridge including a photosensitive drum and a process unit for acting on the photosensitive drum is detachably attachable to an apparatus main body have been known.
Among such image forming apparatuses, some include, for example, a tray provided to be movable with respect to the apparatus main body to facilitate insertion of the cartridge into the apparatus main body. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-213018, a tray with a cartridge supported thereon is inserted into and drawn out of an apparatus main body to implement attachment and detachment of the cartridge to/from the apparatus main body.
The cartridge attached to the apparatus main body needs high positional accuracy for improved image quality. According to the foregoing conventional technique, to improve the positional accuracy of the cartridge, the tray inserted into the apparatus main body is separated from the cartridge, and the cartridge is supported by a supporting portion provided on the apparatus main body. To separate the tray from the cartridge, a conventional configuration may include a link mechanism interlocked with opening and closing of a door to retract the tray vertically downward.
According to such a conventional technique, to make the supporting portion of the apparatus main body support the cartridge, the link mechanism for retracting the tray in an interlocking manner with a closing operation of the door needs to be arranged inside the image forming apparatus. This can complicate the configuration of the image forming apparatus and incur additional cost or cause an increase in the size of the image forming apparatus.